>> Shawn Lee Ping Pong Orchestra
bio: Shawn grew up in a rural area on the outskirts of Wichita,Kansas. His mother is half Lebanese, half American Indian, his father Irish-American. While his peers got off on cheesy corporate rock and the kind of line-dancing tunes recently fashionable in Gap ads, Shawn was groovin to the blaxploitation funk Sly and the Isleys. Later, his local Baptist Church widened his appreciation of black music, but when he sang and played drums in its gospel choir, he discovered some of his white friends were racists who disapproved. Fuck this, he thought. Im leaving the Mid-West It was 1988.
Next stop Los Angeles. Already an able multi-instrumentalist (guitar, drums, perc,bass, etc) Shawn now set about developing his song writing. There were bands, publishing deals, relationships and day jobs: more notches on the bedpost of experience. This period also saw Shawn befriend the late Jeff Buckley, and somebody, somewhere has a tape of them jamming Honky Tonk Woman. Be sure that Buckley would have recognised Shawn's talent.
In 1995, Shawn moved to London, where he recorded his solo debut. For all the wrong reasons, the album was never released. It was soul destroying; a bit like somebody erasing 3 years of your life. Resolving to write and record on his own terms, Shawn kept working.He created the infamous "Planet of the breaks" series aswell as 5 volumes of "Ape Breaks" becoming the most sampled drummer of his generation in the process. He passed CDs of songs to friends with no agenda other than hope you enjoy it . As Shawn continued to do it his way, airplay garnered by a self-financed EP prompted several major labels to phone him. He had no intention of reboarding the corporate merry-go-round, though. Instead, he opted to sign a deal with Mark Jones at Wall of Sound. The labels got real credibility, he says and Mark was happy to put out a record which sounds exactly like I wanted it to. Subsequently Shawn became the flagship artist for the new Wall of Sound imprint, We Love You with his album Monkey Boy which features the cult song Happiness.
2004 saw the release of two Shawn Lee albums. Soul Visa (in Japan only, on Rush!) and the debut release of Shawn's instrumental side project Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra. The first of which is entitled Music and Rhythm on Ubiquity Records. 2005 also saw two more records from Mr. Lee; Harmonium (in Japan only, on Rush!) and the second Ping Pong album Moods and Grooves. As the success of the Ping Pong series grew Shawn was offered his first full movie soundtrack. The movie is entitled "Save Angel Hope" and will be released in 2007. The Industry has been quick to embrace the Ping Pong sound. PPO tracks have been featured in the tv series Malcom in the middle,Lost,Desperate Housewives,CSI Miami,Ugly Betty,Boston Legal,Rodney,Good Morning america etc.,movies:Oceans 13,The Break up,Pool Hall Prophets. Ads for BMW,Cinemax,Jaguar,Barclays,Exxon,Head & Shoulders and numerous Skate & Surf films. Shawn also has composed a video game soundtrack for Rockstar(Grand Theft Auto etc.) . The game is entitled "Bully" and was released in october 2006. The selected soundtrack album for Bully/Canem canis edit is available on itunes,emusic and was released in stores december 2006 on Ultra.
So that brings us up to now. Next up a European and American release for Soul Visa in the fall 2006 and the release of volume three Strings and Things by the Ping Pong Orchestra on February 21st 2006. Also look out for Mr. Lee doing "No Surprises " on an a Radiohead covers album called "Exit Music". Plus vocal collaborations with Muallem,Silent Poets,Sparo and Black Joy. Remixes for The Thievery Corporation, Nino Moschella,Dust Galaxy,Jack Arel and Lord Large.The fourth Ping Pong Orchestra album is now in the can!REcorded at Shawn's London studio/lair"Trans-Yank" it's entitled "Voices and Choices" and features guest vocals from:Ohmega Watts,Nino Moschella and Pierre D. Shawn chips in with textural vocals and takes the PPO sound onto some next level shit! Voices and Choices drops in January 2007 on Ubiquity.November see's an Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra vs Nino Moschella ep hitting the streets so move over, Shawn Lee is the new hardest working man in show business!!!
)
